


mind heist

by medievals



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medievals/pseuds/medievals
Summary: ryuuzaki goes out of his comfort zone.





	mind heist

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to the people in my groupchat who wished to read the rest of this short story. i hope you enjoy!

I lower myself onto the grass and close my eyes, the sun hot against my face. I feel alive with all the wildlife around me, only the noises of the birds and my own beating heart as a backdrop.

A quiet cough sounds from a few feet away. I look over to find L staring at me.

I close my eyes again, a small smile on my lips. “Yes, Ryuuzaki?”

It’s silent for a moment before I hear his bare feet sliding against the grass as he walks towards me. “What exactly are you doing?” His voice is apathetic as always.

“What does it look like like I’m doing?” I say.

He ignores me. He knows what I’m doing, but what he doesn’t understand is _why_ I’m doing it. It makes sense, though, as he isn’t the type of person to enjoy being outside.

“I’m resting. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

“It is impossible for me not to rest,” he condescends.

I don’t take offense to his tone. “Well, no duh,” I laugh, “I know you have to get sleep at some point of your life. Even if I don’t see you do it, I know you do.”

“Okay,” he says, voice bland. I know he wants to say more, but he won’t for fear of revealing himself too much.

I breathe in, the smell of wildflowers surrounding me. I had always loved to be around flowers; it’s why I worked at the flower shop for so long.

L’s breathing is calm next to me, and I wonder again whether he has a reason for working so often.

“Don’t you ever get sick of working so much?”

He’s always working on the case or eating, but he can multitask quite well. Even when the rest of the team goes out to eat, he insists on staying behind. “No, I am content with staying here,” he would say. Though, now that I think about it, when we’re gone is likely the only time he allows himself to sleep.

He doesn’t beat around the bush. “No.”

“That’s sad,” I state, opening my eyes to glance at him. He is close, kneeling like he always does. His thumb is between his lips, dark eyes focusing on me as he attempts to analyze me.

“Why do you say that?” He seems disinterested, but I know better. He wouldn’t have asked if he wasn’t interested; he doesn’t care what people think of him and why he does what he does. He’s desensitized himself to opinions, dissociated himself from other people.

“You don’t do anything but work, Ryuu.” The nickname rolls off my tongue before I can stop it. I hope he doesn’t notice, but I know it’s just wishful thinking; he’s the best detective on the planet, of course he’ll notice. He’s already filing it away in his mind as evidence, saving it for later when it’s relevant. “How is your life fulfilling?”

“I find my work to be fulfilling,” he says. “I would not be the top three detectives in the world if I found my work to be unfulfilling.”

“Pardon me for saying this, but I think that’s exactly what you would do.” I lay down flat on the grass, plucking a flower from beside me and examining it. “You don’t know anything else. You only know your cases. That is not fulfilling, you must admit that.”

“English is a vast language. One’s personality can differ the meaning of many words, if not most. My definition of ‘fulfilling’ and yours may be exceedingly different.”

I smile. “They must be, because by now I wouldn’t be here if I was in your shoes.”

He stays silent.

He doesn’t seem at all worried by how little life experience he has besides working. He seems content with just solving the puzzling crimes. I’m sure his ego inflates from doing what others are unable to and dismissing them as lower than him in his mind. Because of this, he’s most likely never had a true friend other than Watari whom he treats like a manservant.

“I don’t know much about you or your past,” I start, twirling the daisy in my fingers, “but I do know that you must have been raised much differently than I was.”

“Elaborate,” he orders shortly, curiosity piqued.

“I believe you were raised to think in terms of cases solved, to measure your self-worth in how successful you are at dishing out justice.”

He’s great at internalizing his reactions, but I know I’ve hit the nail on the head.

I sit up, turning to look at him. His hands have turned white from how tight he’s gripping his knees and his mouth is set in a thin line. He is looking away from me, in the general vicinity of a beautiful daisy like my own. Without a moment’s hesitation, I decide to do something ballsy.

Setting my own daisy in my lap, I reach towards the one he is looking at. He glances at me as I reach out towards him with it between my fingers. I can see the gears in his mind turning in overdrive and the widening of his eyes as I tuck it between the tufts of soft black hair atop his head.

He makes no sudden movements except to look down, and I can’t see his eyes anymore. I’m not sure if that was such a good idea, but there’s no taking it back now. It’s already done.

Either I just did the stupidest thing I have ever done or I made leeway into the towering castle walls around his enigmatic heart. I hope it’s the latter.

I don’t say anything as I take my own flower and tuck it behind my ear.

“I know that you don’t think you have anything going for you besides your intelligence, but I’m telling you that you’re wrong. There is so much beauty in this world, so much beauty in you, and I wish you could see it for what it is instead of as something to be solved.”

By now, the sun is setting above the trees, splashes of pink and orange painting the sky.

“We should get back,” he says, his tone low and breathy. He glances over at me shortly, his pale lips quirked downward. I see his gaze jump from my eyes to the flower behind my ear, and then, though almost undetectable, up at his own.

He might be frowning, but his eyes are smiling.


End file.
